The messaging service out to dethrone Bloomberg just took a big hit from Wall Street's top cop

Wall Street's top cop just scored a big win over the messaging
system that is out to dethrone Bloomberg.

Symphony, the messaging system backed by a bevy of big-name Wall
Street firms, is changing its policies after meeting with New
York's Department of Financial Services, led by acting
superintendent Anthony Albanese.

The changes follow concerns, expressed by the NYDFS, that
features such as "Guaranteed Data Deletion" could hinder
investigations into wrongdoing on Wall Street.

Symphony will now retain copies of electronic communications sent
through its platforms for seven years.

The banks will also store duplicate copies of decryption keys
with independent entities outside the financial companies,
according to a statement from DFS on September 14.

The rulings apply to four financial firms — Goldman Sachs,
Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, and Bank of New York Mellon — that
are regulated by the NYDFS and are part of the Symphony
consortium. NYDFS said it thought the requirements should apply
to all firms that use Symphony in future.

"This is a critical issue since chats and other electronic
records have provided key evidence in investigations of
wrongdoing on Wall Street," Albanese said in a statement. "It is
vital that regulators act to ensure that these records do not
fall into a digital black hole.”

The chief executive of Symphony, David Gurle, said in a statement
to Business Insider: "The agreement is another
positive development on the eve of Symphony’s launch. Symphony’s
platform safeguards against cyber-threats while strengthening
customers’ compliance operations and facilitating their ability
to meet their regulatory obligations."

A spokeswoman for Goldman Sachs told Business
Insider: "We are pleased our discussions with the DFS
have been constructive and Symphony’s messaging solution
addresses their concerns and further enhances our process around
security and compliance.”

The news comes at a critical time in
Symphony's development. After months of touting its product
and raising cash at a
reported $1 billion valuation, the startup had orchestrated
an international product launch set to take place on Tuesday in
New York and in London.